TFL

Last TFL week of the year, Dundreggan 5th to 12th November

Myself and Gordon were, once again, on duty for the last TFL week of 2011.  It’s always great to get back to Dundreggan at some point of the year to catch up with Steve (Morris, Dundreggan project manager) and the trees that I’ve been involved in planting.

This year, due to the nursery move from Plodda to Dundreggan, there were a lot of TFL grown trees to be planted, both in the nursery, and in two of the planting sites.  In total we planted over 2100 trees in the two planting sites, and numerous trees were transposed successfully to their new nursery setting.

From a personal perspective I was extremely pleased to see that some of the aspen and birch had almost reached my head height in the riparian planting area, where we added some hazel, elm, rose and the occasional Scots pine.

We spent three days working in the planting area on the North West of the estate.  From here we had a great view of the mountains of Glen Moriston, and were witness to colourful sunsets each evening.   Here too, some of the birch trees have already reached five foot and it will be interesting to see how the site looks in spring, when the trees start getting their leaves back.

Many thanks to Jill for guiding us through a number of the planting jobs, and for Abby’s help during the nursery day.  It was good to catch up with Bill and Donnie and to spend the week with a great bunch of creative volunteers.  I’m still amazed at how good Grieg’s pizza was.

13 November, 2011 | Categories: TFL, Work | Leave a comment

Trees for Life week at Plodda Lodge and Glen Affric, 15th – 22nd Oct

I’ve just finished Focalising the last ever TFL week at Plodda Lodge.  Over the last two years Plodda has become my favourite TFL accommodation.  For me it has a very intimate feel with a communal eating area and a single bunk room.  It’s funny, I can remember avoiding it during my early volunteer weeks, because I was put off by the idea of a single bunk room, but due to some last minute changes to the work week schedule in early 2009 I was asked to go there for my first week as a Focaliser.  I was joined on the week by some good friends, from TFL and some I knew outside of the organisation, and I can remember lying in the bunk room one night, listening to everyone breathing/shuffling/talking in their sleep (a couple of them seemingly talking nonsense to each other!), and thinking that I felt an incredible feeling of well-being in amongst them.

During this week we carried out non-native tree weeding on three of the days, removed a few hundred metres of fencing on a wet day at Kerrow wood, and spent a day in the nursery.  One of the weeding sites was alongside Loch Affric, which is in a fantastic, rugged setting.  On our last day there we took the opportunity to visit the Athnamulloch bothy, a place that TFL have used for work weeks in the past.

Special thanks to Mick, my co-focaliser, and to Gordon and Julie for their support during the week.  In some ways this was the most interesting week I’ve spent with TFL, and I’m grateful that I was able to share it with such a considerate group of people.

I look forward to catching up with the trees from the nursery in a couple of weeks at Dundreggan.  Here are some photos from the week.  Not many nature ones I’m afraid, as it’s pretty hard to tell if I’m taking a decent picture without an lcd screen or viewfinder on my disabled camera.  The ones of Plodda falls and from the hills up near Loch an Eang are taken on our day off.

22 October, 2011 | Categories: TFL | Leave a comment

Skye week nature shots

Here’s a small fraction of the nature that was on show during the TFL Skye conservation work week.  The rest may be available to view during your Trees for Life week on the island.

1 May, 2011 | Categories: TFL | Leave a comment

TFL week on Skye 23rd April, sunshine included

So, my only TFL work week of this spring, and it felt like I must have picked the best week of the season, not least because of the sunny weather.  I was Focalising with Paul Knights, someone who I’ve met a couple of times before at the 2010 conference and Saturday changeovers.  He’s been coming on work weeks for 15 years and he’s still only half my age!  Anyway, I think we did ok.

We were also lucky enough to have a fine group of volunteers, some of whom I knew, and some I was meeting for the first time.  We planted 3020 trees on a fairly steep slope over the road from the plantation in Glen Kylerhea (down towards the Kylerhea ferry).  During our three days there we heard, and occasionally saw, at least two grasshopper warblers, and twice a golden eagle, once soaring higher and higher and then twisting and feinting as it dropped into the next glen, and the next time flying low over us with a bunch of hoodies in tow.  This was in addition to a fine array of other birds, caterpillars, bugs, etc.

We also spent a day felling Spruce at Balmacara and, on our last working day, clearing smaller spruce from a beautiful spot near Leitir Fura (look it up and pay it a visit).  For my day off I walked to Gleann Meadhonach and Dalavil woods.  There is an area of planted young woodland before the Glen opens up, and the whole walk was absolutely stunning.  I’ll create another post to discuss my wildlife sightings.

As usual big thanks must go to Peter and Julie MacDonald for being great hosts at the Flora MacDonald lodge.

Also worthy of mention was the food, especially the cakes (I may, at last, get some sleep tonight after Kevin and Rob’s chocolate brownie hit!), a snipe with a strangely high pitched tail near the lodge, some fine philosophical debate with the legendary Mr Knights (mostly not serious!), and the late night conversations around the fireside.

30 April, 2011 | Categories: TFL, Travels, Work | 1 Comment

The 2011 TFL focaliser conference

So, it’s that time of year again.  When various focalisers, from all parts of the globe, make their way to Dundreggan to listen to Rob and Julie’s hilarious anecdotes.  This year there was no snow, which was disappointing, but lots of constructive (hopefully) talk again.

We got a chance to learn about the new Dundreggan planting site, Rosie showed us how to calculate distances from our stride length, Dan taught us about tracks and signs, and Adam enlightened us with the names of woodland flora.

As for my trip, I caught the Exmouth train to Exeter at 2 minutes past midnight on Friday morning (Thursday night?), along with a highly entertaining group of drunk goths, who apologised en masse every time any of them got in the way or looked like they might throw up.  I then alighted the 1am sleeper train from Exeter to Paddington.  As it happened it was the most uncomfortable train I’ve ever been on.  The seats were bum numbing, I was sat too close to the guy sat opposite me, and there was a sizeable gale blowing cold air through the carriage.  I took my jacket off as I sat down, then put it back on, then realised that I needed more than the four layers that I was already wearing to stay warm.

I briefly fell asleep somewhere between Reading and Paddington before trying to find a tube train at sometime around half 5 in the morning.  As it happened one turned up reasonably quickly, to take me to Kings Cross.  Whilst standing in the big open space where the train times were being displayed I spotted Julie Mac.  Instinctively I caught her eye and attempted to display signs of recognition.  I immediately regretted it, feeling that I was way too tired to converse with anyone.  Still, Julie came over and I probably made her feel terrible by mumbling incoherently to her until she had to catch the 6.15 train North.

My train left at 7am.  I had a seat all to myself, and I gradually let the motion of the train calm me off to sleep.  I woke some time after Peterborough to notice that someone was sitting next to me.  After a little more dozing I realised that she was gorgeous, so I stirred myself and got to know a little about Francesca from Newcastle University.

So, by the time I arrived in Edinburgh I was in a proper daze.  Many thanks to Colin, Rob, Sarah, Joan and Julie for putting up with me without comment.  No thanks to Deborah for pointing out that I reminded her of a bear with a sore head.

Thankfully I managed to sleep rather well at Dundreggan.  On my way back (today) my train travelled directly from Edinburgh to Exeter, and there were plenty of opportunities for naps.  Not so many opportunities to avoid the butt numbing x country train seat though.

1 February, 2011 | Categories: TFL | 1 Comment

Photos from my Dundreggan day off

On Wednesday (10th), during the work week, we had a day off, as usual.  I took the opportunity to walk West across the estate, from the lodge, to some land adjacent to the estate (above Dalchreichart), that has been planted with Scots Pine in the last 10 years.  The land owner has erected a deer fence all around the land, but there are two gates into the area from Dundreggan.

It was a beautiful cold, crisp, sunny day, with frost in the dips and cracks in the hills.  In some places the Scots Pine, which I estimate at about 8 years old, is above my head height.  There is also a good thicket of Birch regeneration, just downhill from the Dundreggan plantation, but the few planted Birch that I found were either dead or in poor health.  There were signs of deer damage, and I found two hinds in the exclosure (exclosure because it is designed to keep deer out).

In the western part of the exclosure there is a deep gorge with a waterfall at one end.  Walking up it was easily the highlight of my day.  Above the waterfall a stand of Aspen hang on to the cliff top, and suckers are having some success in getting further away.  But it’s a precarious situation and I hope the deer are removed before they cause them too much damage.

14 November, 2010 | Categories: TFL | Leave a comment

Last TFL ww 2010, 6th Nov, Dundreggan

Sooo, the very last Trees for Life work week of 2010 (that they told me about anyway), and it is myself and Gordon picking up the vols from Inverness station again, as per this week last year.  This year I have to endure chick pea chocolate cake, chick pea curry, humus and other foodstuffs that allegedly have chick peas in.  Chick peas, as I’m sure you are aware, are a strong contender for the most boring food in the world.  However, as I’ve learnt through years of work week experience (especially this one), this rule does not seem to apply when the chick peas are not visible in the final dish.  Hats off Johnny, on this week, for providing another exception with his chick pea curry.  And yes, Freddie, I have now eaten a whole sock.  It would have been much more palatable as part of one of your cakes.

We sang (thanks Bill), we played, some drank, all ate.  We brashed (removed the lower branches from standing trees) maybe 3-5 hectares within the plantation on the Western side of the Dundreggan estate.  We removed the top layer from over a 1.3km of fence.  This work will provide improved access to the plantation for future work as well as reducing the chance of Black Grouse strikes against the fence, and allowing more light through to flora, etc on the woodland floor.

I’ll create a new entry for the pictures from my day off.  As you can see, we had a couple of fantastic sunsets, and some rain.  It was even cold at times, hopefully a sign of another freezing winter.  Proper Scottish weather.

14 November, 2010 | Categories: TFL | Leave a comment

A day out to Migdale with Trees for Life

Today I was lucky enough to tag along on the Trees for Life staff day out to Ledmore and Migdale woods, somewhere I went to earlier in the year.

This time it was a relatively warm day, and the loch, Loch Migdale, wasn’t frozen.  It was good to meet up with Chris, from the Woodland Trust, again, and share some thoughts with him regarding his recent week Focalising.  And it was a good opportunity for me to spend some time with the TFL staff on a more informal basis.

Chris really does have the ideal job (from my perspective).  On the one hand he has a relatively free reign to manage the woodland habitat, and on the other he is tasked with encouraging people of all ages to visit and appreciate the woods, something he seems to do very well.  The woods are a mix of mostly middle aged to young trees, with some fabulous regeneration in some areas and very little non-native intrusion.  There are also some very fine old Aspen trees, see photos below.

More information on the woods can be found here

26 October, 2010 | Categories: TFL, Travels | Leave a comment

Spiders are amazing.

Having heard about their photographic competition, I recently checked out the countryfile magazine web site.  I was extremely disappointed by the comments concerning one of the winning entries, a fantastic looking (jumping?) spider.  More than one person commenting suggest that they would be reluctant to buy a calendar with a spider in it.  And some of those even go as far as to say that children will have nightmares on seeing the spider photo.  This mindset displays alarming ignorance.

Firstly, it suggests that the best way to overcome people’s fear of spiders is to remove all spiders from sight.  This response is an example of why humans, as a species, are destroying the world that we live in.  Rather than worry about how we make thousands of spiders homeless every day, assuming they survive us moving into their lives, we can only think of ways in which we can remove them from our homes/crops/outbuildings/vehicles/etc (we don’t just do this with spiders, we do it with every other species on the planet that we don’t call ‘domestic’ or a ‘crop’).

Secondly, it suggests that children are born scared of spiders.  This is generally not the case.  A large number of people grow up being scared of spiders because they see adults reacting to them when they are young.  In some countries spiders can kill you, but in this country, reacting like someone has passed an electric current through the floor when one appears, seems a little extreme (Dad).  If children are taught to appreciate spiders, then they invariably do.  Exposure, not avoidance, is the way to overcome an irrational fear.

If there was a Royal Society for the Protection of Spiders their strapline would be “Spiders are amazing, let’s keep them that way”.  Spiders ARE amazing, I hope these pictures, taken during my last three work weeks (Dundreggan, Balmacara and Glen Affric, see previous entries) will help you to agree.

18 October, 2010 | Categories: TFL, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Some Glen Affric nature pics

Here are some additional photos from the work week in the Glen Affric nature reserve, that concentrate a bit more on what nature was up to while we were there…

17 October, 2010 | Categories: TFL | 1 Comment

A holiday in the Glen Affric Nature Reserve, 9th Oct to 16th

At the third time of trying, since my first Focaliser (work week leader) week, I was once again foiled in my efforts to partake in a TFL week as a volunteer.  The previous two occasions had been firstly due to a Focaliser becoming otherwise engaged, and then a college block-booking taking priority.  This time, with a lot less notice, one of the Focalisers was unable to make it following a trip to the hospital during the night before the week started.  As luck would have it, this gave me the opportunity to spend the week Focalising with Andrew.

During the week we planted 1435 trees, mostly Birch with some Alder, Rowan and Goat Willow, in Glen Cannich.  We had sunshiny days for the most part, but even so, the views up and down the Glen are spectacular, and the atmosphere was improved further by the almost constant sound of rutting stags in the distance.

We also spent some time removing non-native Spruce, Larch and Hemlock (and one Lodgepole Pine) from an area above Plodda called Farmer’s Wood.  Here we were treated to noisy flying displays by a local family of Ravens, whilst flocks of Tits came and went and a Great Spotted Woodpecker made various announcements from the nearby trees.

On Thursday we were lucky enough to spend a day in the nursery, with Jill and Abbie, putting a new cover on the first poly-tunnel.  I can now proudly say that I’ve been involved in the digging of the trenches for both poly-tunnels.  On this occasion it stayed dry, and Caroline managed to scrape some soup off the kitchen walls for a very successful lunch.

16 October, 2010 | Categories: TFL, Work | Leave a comment

Baxters Loch Ness 10k run…

Today I ran my first (and probably last) competitve 10k.  I finished 791st out of 2600, with a time of 51.52

http://www.lochnessmarathon.com/results/10k.php?offset=750&order=finish_time&cat=

I don’t know whether to be pleased or disappointed with this time.  On the one hand I’ve been walking with a pain in my left knee since I did my last training run, almost a week ago on Skye, something which has been becoming more and more of a problem since the end of August; and on the other hand I was fairly sure I could do better after my first two weeks of training, back in the beginning of August.

Anyway, the day out was great, and I’d love to do it again.  It was a great experience running with thousands of other people, even if a large number of them seemed to get in my way on the narrower parts of the course.   And it was the first time I’ve been applauded for running since I was in school.  I thought that was pretty cool, just as I did when I was younger.

I was running as part of a Trees for Life team (TeamTFL).  Many thanks to Rosie for organising our participation.  She and Colin, Jane and Steve made up the rest of the team, the four fastest of which are listed against our team result of 18th out of 40.

http://www.lochnessmarathon.com/results/corporate_challenge.php?offset=50&order=team_time&cat=&year=2010

Other special thanks should go out to the people who manufacture Ibuprofen for making the run relatively painless.  And to Ross, Kate, James and Sean, who came along to give support.  Sean also picked up a medal for me – as I was running over the finish line I didn’t even notice that they were giving medals out, or that there was a big clock there telling me what time I’d run (I didn’t find out my time until it came up on the web site), or that different people were giving out different sized t-shirts.  My XL will be going to a good home as soon as I find someone who is XL.

Well done to Adam Druett (who recently rode from Land’s End to John O Groats to raise money for TFL) for completing the Loch Ness marathon in 3hrs 35mins.  A pretty good time and his first marathon.  Adam was on the Skye work week we finished yesterday and accompanied me on my training run on Skye last Monday.

You may wonder why I didn’t ask for sponsorship for doing the event.  I’m not comfortable with asking for sponsorship, I prefer it if people give money based on how worthy the cause is rather than the often unrelated actions of the individual, or group, requesting the sponsorship.  I believe that the causes I support are worthy, they are listed on the right hand side of this blog.  Any support for them, from you, is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks to Rosie and Ross for most of the following photos.  More photos can be found of me here

3 October, 2010 | Categories: TFL, Travels | Leave a comment

Work week on Skye, 25th Sept – 2nd Oct.

With Focalisers falling all around, many thanks to Russell for gallantly stepping in at the last minute to work this week with me.  Thankfully he managed to pass his cold on to just a few of the volunteers.  On Monday I staggered my way through a training run for the forthcoming 10k.  However, the after effects of my run from the hostel to Armadale and back, with Adam, who’s going to run the Loch Ness marathon, left me unable to run again for the rest of the week.  Not the best preparation, but hey, by now I’m treating the race as the last time I’ll ever run.

Back to the work week, I knew Adam and Lizzie already, so it was great to see them again, and the rest of the group were a mix of city dwellers, a wood dweller and a tall dutchman.  We removed sizeable areas of non-native scrub from Balmacara and Glen Arroch.  The area at Balmacara will be planted up with young Oak in the spring, although we found some regeneration already there.  This has spread from the existing Oak wood remnant, which is well worth a visit as it has the feel of a beautiful old Oak wood.

Click on the images to enlarge…

2 October, 2010 | Categories: TFL | 1 Comment

Photos from my day off…

During the work week we, as usual, took a day off.  So, on Wednesday I took a walk up the Red Burn on Dundreggan.  I then met Dundreggan project manager Steve near the Spring planting site (not far from the source of the Red Burn, where I saw plenty of fish and Dragonfly) for a walk about the site.  It was fantastic, I could already see the trees I’d planted (over 2000 in amongst the 20000 plus) before entering the site, which is fenced off to keep deer out.

It was, and will be, interesting to note how the trees in the monitoring plots perform.  In each group of plots there are 4 plots containing Birch, Birch and Alder, Birch with soil taken from the Birch woodland on Dundreggan, and Birch with fertiliser.  My initial impression was that the Alder is doing exceptionally well in these plots.  Alder is known to be a good Nitrogen fixer, so this could prove to be beneficial to the Birch.

12 September, 2010 | Categories: TFL | 3 Comments

4th September, let the work week fun begin…

First week of the TFL season and my group is posted to Dundreggan, to carry out work on FCS land in Glen Moriston.  My co-focaliser is the newly initiated Mr John Garrett.  There have been a few last minute drop outs, but that doesn’t seem to bother the volunteers who have turned up, who plough through the work, and include one who has travelled over from Spain especially.

Roughly 1700m of fence removed in two days, a sizeable stand of spruce trees and an area of regeneration roughly 4 or 5 hectares, cleared of non-native tree species (Spruce, Douglas Fir, etc).  This was accompanied by great food with some important experimentation with cakes.

12 September, 2010 | Categories: TFL, Work | 4 Comments

Last stop at Dundreggan before heading South

After the weekend at Achnashellach, I had one last stop to make before starting my journey South for the summer.  The weather was fine, Steve was out working in the garden, there was some IT stuff to do, and Russell and Stephanie made supper.  Great stuff.  I stayed for the night before seeing the wild boar fed in the morning.  The boar seemed in relaxed mood so Steve took myself, Russell and Steph for a walk in the enclosure, where we spotted a wild boar ‘nest’, a dragonfly, and some signs of regeneration…

29 May, 2010 | Categories: TFL | Leave a comment

Planting at Achnashellach and some time in the TFL Findhorn office.

Following my two work weeks at Plodda I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to hang around the Trees for Life Findhorn office for a week, under the guise of an IT professional.  My work was mostly based around upgrading slower MACs, ensuring machines were being backup up and specifying and ordering any other required IT kit.  This was the last chance to see the TFL staff at Findhorn for the spring season, and I was treated to a beautiful walk in the dunes, a large slice of carrot cake, and a bbq party round at Mick’s (thanks Mick).

However, (possibly) the best part of my season was yet to come. On the Friday (21st) I had to leave Mick’s bbq reasonably early to head over to Achnashellach.  There were still some unplanted trees left over from the season’s work weeks, and I’d agreed, with Colin, to have a go at getting some of them in.  Armed with a spade, a couple of planting bags, and an FCS key, I drove to Craig, crossed the railway crossing, and was into the wild.

My illusions (delusions) of being into the wild were shattered at 7.30 the next morning when the slow trickle of walkers started to make their way into the hills, up the track past my sleepy camper.  So, I dropped the roof, picked up some trees and got on with the business of increasing the population of Scots Pine on the hillside.

Amidst reports of some kind of heat wave across the rest of the UK, the weather gods were kind enough to leave Achnashellach overcast, with some fine rain at times, much to my relief, as carrying hundreds of trees up a hillside covered in 3ft high heather is warm work.  At the end of each day the weather would brighten a little and I would stand at the top of my hill and survey the Glen.  To the West were a series of majestic craggy mountains, to the East a large rolling Glen.  Near me there was a burn running down the hill with a number of native trees alongside it; a sign of how large parts of the hill should look in just a few years time.  In amongst the trees were Willow Warbler, Tree Pipit, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Blackbird, Thrush, etc…

29 May, 2010 | Categories: TFL, Work | Leave a comment

(Not just) Another TFL work week at Plodda, 8th to 15th May

Sometimes life throws up opportunities that just can’t be missed.  Whilst on my work week with Gordon (see previous entries), I received a call from the office explaining that they needed someone to stand in for one of the Focalisers on the following week at Plodda.  I wouldn’t normally work two weeks in a row, not only are the weeks physically demanding, but they can be emotionally so too.  However, in this case I would be working with Howard, who I trained with, and I would be back at Plodda for another week, a place I love being around.

Thanks to Howard’s energy and the enthusiasm of the group, I was carried through my more tired moments, and by the end of the week I was extremely disappointed to say goodbye to a fantastic group of people and our well formed community.

During the week we planted roughly 4000 trees in Glen Cannich.  We also spent one day in the tree nursery at Plodda under Jill’s guidance, transplanting trees, digging out and adding compost to beds, and potting out Aspen root cuttings.

There was amazing food (including a multiple course curry, and veggie burgers on another night), and another opportunity to get up to Loch An Eang, this time with Howard and Charlotte, on our day off.  Here are some photos, a link to more will follow…

Ok, link is now here.

28 May, 2010 | Categories: TFL | Leave a comment

More photos, taken with a real camera, (not my phone!) from the ww 1st to 8th May

The first of these pics were taken on the day off, the rest later in the week.

Here is a link to more photos, not published on the blog

27 May, 2010 | Categories: TFL | Leave a comment

A TFL work week at Plodda, 1st to 8th May.

So May has been a bit hectic, and I’ve a bit of catching up to do on here.  It all started with only my second work week of 2010.  This one was in a tried and tested Focalising combo with the legendary Gordon.  We were staying at Plodda and planting in Glen Cannich, with a couple of non-native weeding days at Glen Cougie.

Both sites offer incredible views of the Glen Affric National Nature Reserve, and some excellent examples of ‘granny’ Scots Pine trees, and I found the drive to work each day incredibly inspiring.  There was a significant amount of birch regeneration on the way to Glen Cannich, and it looked like this could be happening in some parts of Glen Cougie too.  In Glen Cannich we planted just over 2000 trees, and in Glen Cougie we cleared a substantial area of non-native tree species (Spruce & Lodge Pole Pine).

This work was all thanks to 7 wonderful volunteers, some good weather and great food.  I also had an amazing walk to Loch An Eang (with Gordon and Alan) on our day off.

Here are some photos.  More will follow when I’ve an improved internet connection.

Here is a link to more photos, not published on the blog.

27 May, 2010 | Categories: TFL | Leave a comment

Dundreggan pics…

So, myself and Calum have been staying in the cottage at Dundreggan, and planting the trees left over from the spring work weeks.  The planting site is high up, over-looking the only coniferous plantation on the estate.  The views are superb, with large Munro’s to the West and the wide rolling Glen of Moriston below and to the East.

Steve, the Dundreggan project manager, has tried to make planting as easy as possible, ensuring that there are plenty of prepared areas of ground within the fenced exclosure (to keep out deer).  As a result I put in 500 to 600 trees a day, and am glad that myself and Calum have been given the opportunity to ensure that the trees get the best possible start in life, rather than the job being given to an external contractor.

On Monday I walked up to see the pigs.  I can’t remember having seen them since I stayed here at the end of last year.  Unfortunately, there are two less little ones than when I last saw them, due to a combination of infection and some extraordinary cold weather over the winter.  But the two remaining little ones are now not so little.  In fact they’ve grown so much, they all look fantastic.

After seeing the wild boar I continue up Binnilidh Bheag, before running down from the top to the cottage.  This I manage in under 9 minutes.  I was hoping to do it in 4 – probably not achievable without killing myself.

Evenings are spent eating with Calum, Tim (a Belgian long term volunteer) and, for a couple of days, Willie, Calum’s Dad.  Tim introduces us to a very cool looking Belgian desert.  It turns out to be custard.  Excellent.

30 April, 2010 | Categories: TFL | Leave a comment

Goodbye Kinnordy, hello (again) Dundreggan

So, it’s time to leave the Loch of Kinnordy reserve. Today, I packed my stuff into the van, bought some food in the local Co-op, and then called into the reserve for one last time (for now). While I was there, Jim, a regular visitor to the hides arrived with his grandson. Jack has a fantastic enthusiasm for nature for one so young. He has a camera and loves taking pictures of the Osprey, Lapwing and Shoveller. Today, though, when he pointed out from the hide and shouted “What’s that?”, it turned out to be a Marsh Harrier. Woaw!

I’ve never seen a Marsh Harrier before, but it looked amazing with a strikingly pale head, flying over the reeds, before swooping down, out of sight, probably to grab some prey. Unfortunately we didn’t see it again, but not long after an Osprey cam along and pulled a fish from the reserve within site of where we were sat in the Gullery.

As if this wasn’t enough for one day, I then called by the Loch of the Lowes on my way West, where I was lucky to see a number of Great Crested Grebe performing to each other on the water.

I’m now staying at Dundreggan for a week to plant some trees, in a new area for planting on the estate, with Calum.  Hopefully I’ll get time to update with another entry before the end of the week.  I have no broadband reception here, so am having to pop round to the office to pick up email.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the last few days…

24 April, 2010 | Categories: RSPB, TFL | 1 Comment

Some more pics from the HARP work week

These pictures were taken on Sunday evening, when I went for a walk up the hill behind the cottage (Strathan, at Attadale), and one from Wednesday, when I walked the Beinn Laith Mhor ridge with Craig (see previous entry for more details).

27 March, 2010 | Categories: TFL | 3 Comments

A Trees For Life work week with HARP Southend

HARP stands for the Homeless Action Resource Project, but it does a lot more than just running a drop in centre.  It’s aim is to give those that come through the system the opportunity to get a home, and make a dignified return to society.  Each year HARP sends a group of people, making their way through rehabilitation, to the highlands for a TFL work week.

All bar one of the group are male, mostly young lads.  Most have had some involvement with drugs, and some have got into trouble through drink.  It’s easy to assume that they are going to hate Scotland, not eat the food we’ve brought, and avoid doing any work if at all possible. If you thought this you’d be wrong.  Right from the start of the week the group help with unpacking the van, lighting the fire, and preparing meals.  One of the group has been a chef in a previous life, and the first meal of the week, following some grumbles about the vegetarian diet, goes down well.

Paul, the chef, is easy going and well mannered, and I find it hard to believe someone like him could find himself in a situation where he’d need to use HARP’s services.  And as the week goes on it seems obvious to me that most of these people’s lives have been driven by the circumstances that surround them, a set of events that has seen them end up in trouble in some way.  During conversations with pretty much all of them I find myself thinking that I like them and that I could be in their shoes if I’d been through the same things they had.  Except, that I’m not sure I would be where they are now, because I’m not sure I’d have the guts to have fought my way out of their story.

Anyway, this week turned out to be one of my favourite TFL weeks.  We managed to plant over 3700 trees in under four days; we had great food every night, despite the group’s initial reservations about the vegetarian diet; I tried acupuncture in the ears for the first time; we played card games and wink murder every night; and myself and Craig made everyone hold hands at least twice during the week!

I also had the opportunity to spend a lot of my time planting with Wayne, another great guy who’s outlook on life seems to have been moulded by his circumstances.  I’m not sure how many trees Wayne planted on the first day planting, as he seemed more interested in smashing up the dead wood on the hill.  On day two he and myself became a team, and planted 120 trees.  On planting day four we planted 150 trees, just in the morning.  I’m sure when Wayne gets back to Southend life’ll be the same for him as it was before his trip to Scotland, but I know that Wayne enjoyed his time in Scotland, and I feel pretty disappointed that I’m unlikely to ever see him again.

I focalised the week with Craig.  We’ve been meaning to get a week sorted together for some time, so that was good.  On our day off we walked Beinn Laith Mhor, which was a top day out, even if my waterproof trousers finally gave up being waterproof half way back to the van.

Finally, if you want to know more about HARP, then look at their web site http://www.harpsouthend.co.uk.  And if you want to know more about how people are changed by the situations that they find themselves in, then read a book called “The Lucifer Effect” by Philip Zimbardo.

26 March, 2010 | Categories: TFL | 3 Comments

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